School Community

Inside College Hockey was the first to report yesterday that Penn State will formally announce their intention to start a hockey program, possibly as early as this Friday.

I already covered this issue over the summer, so it’s probably not worth rehashing until we get some new information of what the future holds.

Other people are writing about it though. USCHO columnist Dave Starman thinks Penn State would be good, if they wanted to join the CCHA, but bad if it meant the creation of a Big Ten conference. Also, his proposed WCHA-CCHA alliance seems pretty wacky. The solution to whatever financial troubles those smaller schools will face won’t be solved by increasing travel expenses exponentially. College Hockey News thinks a Big Ten Conference is inevitable, though not necessarily a disaster.

The reaction from the Penn State side of things has been general excitement, and why wouldn’t it be? Before even being announced, their hockey program has already succeeded where their treasured football program has failed in defeating a school from Alabama.

In other news across Alabama:

Dothan trial begins for woman who claims Taser abuse: A federal court trial has begun in the civil case brought by Pamela Borton, who contends that a Dothan police officer used an electric stun device on her to punish her for being belligerent during a 2006 incident, even though she says she was suffering from bipolar disorder and was restrained face down on a hospital gurney. The officer claims he used the device, known as a Taser, because she posed a threat to herself and others.

Dothan school board passes budget: The Dothan City School Board on Monday passed a $56 million budget, or about $8.5 million less spending than the previous year. Most of the cuts reflected in the new budget were made earlier this year when the school system eliminated 108 positions, the Dothan Eagle reports.

Dothan man charged with having generators stolen from fire department: Houston County Sheriff’s deputies hav arrested 22-year-old Jason Scott Dean of Dothan on a charge he possessed 2 generators stolen July 12 from the Hodgesville Volunteer Fire Department. The generators are valued at a combined total of $1,976.52.

Covington County reaches agreement on ballfields: The Covington County Commission has approved an agreement negotiated by members of the Covington County Recreation Board, members of the commission and the city of Andalusia in which the county would have paid for the use of the soon-to-be renovated Johnson Park by the county baseball and softball leagues.

Andalusia has funding for physical education facility at Andalusia High School: The Andalusia City School system has funding in place for a new multi-purpose physical education facility at Andalusia High School, but has not finalized plans for the building, which is to be paid for with $2.5 million in Qualified School Construction Bonds the system will receive.

Don’t miss out on important school organization information posted on the new eFlyer web page. Don’t forget to toggle the Community Flyer Bulletin Board on the HCER page, too!

Take a look! Check it out! Don’t miss out!

• PTA Membership, Volunteer opportunities and State of the Schools
• PTO Membership, Spirit Wear, Volunteer sign up, Halloween Windows Entry Form and Annual 5K run
• Athletic Boosters Night at the Races October 16th
• Music Association Parade of Bands October 2nd
• Explorer Rocket Boosters need Events Coordinator – paid position.
• Coalition for Children’s Mental Health – Community Hero Nomination Award and Poster Contest

More opportunities!

HCER Community Bulletin Board

Join the Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Indian Guides and Indian Princesses and more….

  The  Obama administration has made huge grants to create new testing formats and designs that  will link k-12 statewide tests to college standards. This is the second phase of the common core standards movement that will spread to 44 states. These assessments will start from college readiness and work back to the elementary grades.

The Department of Education announced awards of some $330 million to two state coalitions – representing 44 states and the District of Columbia – for the design of new assessment systems aligned to the common-core standards. The grant money will be divided almost equally between the two applicants in the competition, which is part of Race to the Top. A third group of 12 states that applied for a smaller, $30 million pot under a separate but related competition to support specific exams at the high school level, failed to win an award

   Folsom, also a PACT Board member, got an opinion from the attorney general’s office that said any mail-outs from PACT, which is overseen by Ivey’s office, could include the website address for Save Alabama Pact.

   The statewide grassroots group was credited convincing the Legislature to appropriate nearly $548 million over the next 17 years go to keep the state’s promise to pay tuition for 44,000 students.

   Huckaby and Lambert were both leaders in the Save Alabama Pact movement before they were appointed to the PACT Board.

   Huckaby said today that Ivey had fought the group at every step in gaining access to communicate with PACT contract holders through the treasurer’s office.

   “We asked her many many many times,” he said. “She had her general counsel write us and tell us she could not provide private information (in mail-outs),” he said. “We asked to be included in mailings and were denied that.”

   Finally, Huckaby said Folsom asked for the opinion from King’s office, which gave approval for Save Alabama Pact to have a link on the PACT site and be listed on all PACT mailings.

   Chip Hill, a spokesman for Folsom, said the lieutenant governor twice made motions that were approved by the PACT Board to include Save Alabama Pact’s contact information in all future PACT mailings.

   “I think everyone was under the impression that the treasurer would abide by the decision of the board,” he said. “I don’t understand why she continues to antagonize these parents.”

   Ivey is the Republican nominee facing Folsom in the lieutenant governor’s race in November.

   Huckaby said a critical financial report on the status of PACT that was mailed earlier this year did not include the Save Alabama Pact information, nor did an Aug. 21 mail-out on “New PACT Rules.”

   “Nothing has changed,” he said. “How critical is that in this point in time I don’t think she (Ivey) is attuned to PACT holders needs this year. Kay Ivey just doesn’t want to follow the lead set down in a motion passed by the Board of Directors.”

   Ivey did not immediately return a phone call, but Deputy Treasurer Vickie Locke said the office opted for a postcard size mailing to save money, limiting space for information.

   While the postcard did not carry the Save Alabama Pact website address, it did carry the website address for the PACT program, she said.

    “When a PACT purchaser follows that link, they are immediately directed to a page that has the Save Alabama Pact address prominently featured,” Locke added.

   Huckaby said he continues to receive e-mails daily from PACT-holders who don’t understand the impact of the new legislation.

   He said many of those questions could be answered by Save Alabama Pact, which will be returning to lobby the Legislature again in 2011.

   Lambert said she was disappointed in the treasurer’s inaction.

   “We fought hard for that and they used every excuse in the world,” she said. “It’s just kind of heartbreaking to me. Just another thing . . .”

    Huckaby and Lambert predicted the legislative fix in 2010 would be short-lived, mainly because of continuing double-digit tuition increases at Auburn University and the University of Alabama. Sixty-five percent of PACT-holders attend those two schools.

   Huckaby said under current conditions, tuition is probably guaranteed only through the 2014 or 2015 school year unless the Legislature makes further revisions in the 2010 law.